


Until Dawn

by Bundlino



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: 3RACHA are Vampires, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Attempt at Humor, Basically I make fun of the Vampire genre, Comedy, Dance Team/Dance Club, Dancer Hwang Hyunjin, Dancer Lee Felix (Stray Kids), Dancer Lee Minho | Lee Know, Food, Halloween, Jeongin is in a Book Club, Library Aide/Assistant Seungmin, M/M, Parody, Romance, School Festivals, Secrets, Seungmin is in a Book Club, Student Kim Seungmin, Student Yang Jeongin | I.N, Swearing, Teacher Aide/Assistant Jeongin, Vampire Bang Chan, Vampire Han Jisung | Han, Vampire Seo Changbin, Vampires, angst if you squint, everyone is the same age
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:21:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23477662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bundlino/pseuds/Bundlino
Summary: Eight boys.Everyone has something to hide.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Comments: 13
Kudos: 50





	1. Scaring the Living Soul Out of Hwang Hyunjin

Hyunjin took a quick glance up from his desk in the back of the classroom.

The mundane sound of chalk gliding on old blackboard mercilessly carried on without break on the poor, genuine souls that bothered to jot every possible note down. The white lettering cluttering the entire wall could be made out if he squinted, although he didn't quite care much for the subject. He could see most things from here, like the sudden yet frustrated intensity of pen on paper from fellow classmates or someone's hand finally giving out through the long hour of one-sided monologue between teacher and student. It was more or less about that time. "In regard to your textbook, you will find the appropriate material to aid in your research for the..." and soon enough Hyunjin blocked out the rest of what his instructor was saying. What mattered more right now was the person directly to his right. 

In the corner of his eye, he could spot his friend Minho resting his chin on the base of his palm while his absent-minded gaze fixated beyond one of the windows nearest him. With the intense thriller that is learning, it was no wonder he found the dark, cloudy sky more entertaining as the downpour gently tapped on glass. This was the third floor of the high school building, meaning any view outside would be particularly more eye-catching than on the bottom floors or whatever else occurred during lecture, and Minho had the best spot. Hyunjin couldn't help but eye roll. Of course Minho had the best view, he probably calculated this exact moment since the first day classes started. Last row, last chair. Admittedly if Hyunjin didn't set next to him at the most far back, he probably wouldn't get away with as many things. 

Matching the timing with the instructor's chalk writing, Hyunjin blended the noise of ripping his notebook paper from the bottom corner at the same time to not arouse suspicion. In a swift motion, he casually crumpled the piece and flung it hard to his side then quickly crossed his arms and adjusted his posture for good measure. Acting natural and proper, like the good student he wasn't.

The paper hit directly at the temple of his friend's head, bouncing off and landing on the tiled floor.

Minho's eye twitched in mild annoyance.

Turning his sight to his left and finally giving the other his undivided attention, he could see Hyunjin faking nonchalance, unusually facing forward to the front of the room with a subtle yet content smile on his face. Taking the hint and peering under his desk, Minho could see the crumpled thing near his foot. As he slid down his chair slightly to fully reach, he stepped and dragged it to the legs of his chair where he could pick it up. Not even bothering to give it a second look, Minho extended his hand to Hyunjin, who was literally within arm's length away from him. 

"I think you dropped this on accident," Minho's voice projected in a low-volumed and calm, monotonous way. The special way that just made extra sure to contrast with Hyunjin's vain antics. 

Hyunjin's expression dropped to a scowl, with his brows tensing in irritation. "Just read it, I went through all that trouble." He was one of those types of people that didn't know what an indoor voice was, so naturally his words were something between a suppressed yell and breathy whisper. 

Of course, the whole class heard. 

The teacher halted his writing mid-way, with his frozen hand holding a mostly withered-down chalk piece in the air. It took no time at all for him to turn in the next moment. He was about the same height as Hyunjin, with a little hunch to his back. His eyes were sharp and felt like they could pierce through the very atmosphere, although everyone was immune at this point as if it were a routine. He was close to retirement and his hearing wasn't all that good, yet his manner of speaking boomed like always. "Excuse me? Is my teaching bothering you?"

The immediate guilt swelled up in Hyunjin as he fiddled with his fingers uncomfortably, not looking the instructor in the eyes. "I— No, sir."

"Not you, Hwang," the teacher rebutted, "I'm talking about Bang over there." 

The class's eyes shifted from the back where Minho and Hyunjin sat in the right corner and shifted all the way to the opposite-left side of the room. Middle row, first chair. A student about the same age in black jeans and an oversized black pullover jacket with his legs crossed beneath the seat. Most notably, it was this student's lack of attention to the lecture that was the root cause. His head was relaxed on his folded arms directly at his desk, napping away. And yes, this was a normal occurrence.

"Hello? Earth to Bang?" the instructor called out.

Several seconds passed before the student sleepily opened his eyelids. His mouth opened in a large circle, letting out a long and drawn-out yawn. "Good morning."

"Good morning? Glad to have you with us, Bang, but the day is almost over. As long as you're up and awake now." The instructor happily went back to writing, resuming his memorized and almost robotic lecture on the topic for the day. Because honestly, no one had the energy to scold Chan on how disrespectful it was for the thousandth time.

As was expected. This was how it always went, with the students returning their attention back to the board and zoning out again like nothing happened. Bang Chan wiped a bit of drool off his mouth with his sleeve and looked down at his blank, incomplete set of notes. 

Hyunjin drew his attention back to Minho, motioning for him to read the paper he threw at him earlier. "Go on," he whisper-yelled.

Minho stared back, expressionless and unamused. Doing as he was told, he began to unfold and flatten out the small paper written in dark pen ink. 

𝙝𝙚𝙮𝙮 𝙗𝙧𝙤~ ツ 

𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨?

Obviously, Minho was not going to skip dance after this. He never did. Hyunjin was just predictably bored.

Naturally, the proper response would be to give him an answer. Maybe something else as a bonus. "Yeah, I'm skipping."

It took Hyunjin by surprise, as Minho could detect by his body language. Feet shifting, arms uncrossed and slight offended jaw drop, posture hunching again. This was the original state of who Hyunjin really was, and it eroded any facade he previously played up. "What, why?" he asked Minho.

Frowning, Minho beckoning for Hyunjin to lean in. So Hyunjin did, meeting in the middle. Slowly, Minho did the same. Slowly, he inched further to Hyunjin's ear. And slowly, he whispered into it with his angelic voice. "Why do you always bother me when I'm busy looking out the window? I'll pour orange juice down your throat while you sleep just for that. Maybe some of that famous wasabi you like so much for the next time after." And like nothing happened, he pulled away from Hyunjin to smile softly. 

Before Hyunjin could react, Minho flicked his forehead with medium strength, causing Hyunjin to fling his head back in over-exaggerated force while silently screaming. 

On cue, as if at the same time, a loud ring echoed through the building's floor. The bell had rung. 

"Oh, I guess it's time! We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow, don't forget about the deadlines. Class dismissed!" 

Some chairs scraped and some backpack zippers closed all around in the split of a second as people began to take off. Meanwhile, Hyunjin shot up from his seat and towered over Minho with revenge on the mind, attempting to flick him back. 

Minho was honestly unfazed, closing his eyes and half expecting for him to go through with it. He just accepted the fate of a flick to the forehead. Except instead, Hyunjin never landed the hit after what felt like a weird delay. 

In fact, Hyunjin could feel something cold holding him back forcefully. It happened too quickly, and he couldn't even sense anything near him. As Hyunjin looked down and processed what just happened, making the connection from his wrist being locked in a tight grip to someone else standing beside them, he couldn't help but instinctively retract his arm from the stranger's scary grasp. 

The familiar person let go, realizing their sudden intrusion into the dynamic as their expression quickly went from what Hyunjin thought was strangely calm to a more worried and apologetic one. "Oh! Sorry about that, I called your name earlier but you didn't hear me... Hyunjin, right?" he asked, running a hand through the dark waves of his hair. "And you're... Minho?"

"I would be Minho," he joked, only having one eye open, "unless I look like a Hyunjin? I think I've been mistaken for that once or twice."

"I see, so Minho then, and Hyunjin," the stranger confirmed. "I'm Chan by the way, and I wanted to see if either of you still needed a partner for the research project. I've been asking around. Kind of last minute and all, but I usually procrastinate."

Hyunjin finally caught up to speed, rolling his eyes. "We know who you are. It would be hard not to know you this late into the semester." He was calming himself down internally but still kept a subtle distance. "What project are you talking about?" he questioned halfheartedly. His mind was still preoccupied with how his wrist hurt belatedly, feeling a slight stinging sensation from where Chan's hand was. He rubbed it to ease the pain but could find no bruising or red mark. That was weird.

"Hyunjin... we've known about this for weeks," Minho answered. "Were you even paying attention?"

"It's not like you were paying attention either," Hyunjin bit back defensively. He was feeling a little too cornered, especially still being cautious of Chan in front of him, nor was Minho catching on anytime soon. He looked at the stranger, unsure of how to word his thoughts. Because that's what he was to him. A stranger. "And I thought you were sleeping in class? How would you know what the teacher was saying?"

Chan looked at him confused. "I wasn't asleep the _whole_ time, and he mentioned it when the bell rang you know?"

"Oh," Hyunjin slowly pieced it all together. "Right."

Minho was the one to change the subject. "As for the project, I kind of already have a partner. Sorry." It was quick and abrupt, like something the other two didn't expect at all, just thrown so matter-of-factly into the open like that. Throwing a wrench into the works.

Hyunjin and Chan turned to him now, both of them responding a simultaneous yet surprised, "You do?"

"I do, why is that so shocking to either of you?" He remained composed, with a brow quirked up at them both being weird.

Stuffing his notebook into his backpack, Hyunjin smirked triumphantly. "Of course Minho has a partner. It's me."

"I see," Chan nodded. "I've asked just about everyone else, but I could keep looking. Thanks for your time—"

"My partner isn't Hyunjin?" Minho chimed in. "It's Jeongin, and we're almost about done with it anyway."

"What!?" Hyunjin yelled. "Why didn't you tell me anything, Minho? I thought we were brothers! How could you do this to me?"

Minho finally got up from his seat, throwing his bag over his shoulder. "I did, about twelve times. Last month alone. Anyway, it was nice chatting Chan, but we have to go."

"Heading home already?" Chan asked.

"Nope, dancing," Minho corrected, "we're dancers. In the dance club."

Chan eyed the both of them up and down before letting out an acknowledged gasp, like something had registered in his brain. "That would explain why you both wear sweats and plain shirts all the time."

"You're one to talk," Hyunjin lightly jabbed, "All you do is wear the same dark clothes and sleep during class." He intended for this to sound like a playful joke, but the three of them knew there was something deeper behind his words. Some truth. And something else a little hostile against Chan.

"Like you're one to pay attention in class either?" Minho grabbed him by the arm and led him out the door, but not before saying a farewell and a blunt, "See you later, Chan."

"See you... later?" The bewilderment was evident in Chan's voice as he stood alone in the classroom, realizing he was the last student to exit.

Minho kept pushing Hyunjin through the hallway. "We're going to be late, thanks to you. Hurry it up."

"But— Wh— You don't think that was weird earlier?" He had kept stumbling over his words for the past several seconds, trying to form a coherent thought.

"What are you talking about now?" Minho continued pushing him and around some trio groupie of friends that took up most of the walking space. He hated when people walked painfully slow without consideration of others that needed to get to places. On any normal given day, it would be almost nothing new, yet ticking off the dance coach would probably trap them into some punishment that involved making their legs sore the following day. And if the dance coach was in a sour mood, maybe he would make the lesson extra difficult as well as give their rant of how the boys did not respect the club or had other priorities goofing off. It was best to avoid that, for everybody's sake.

After being guided through the army of students that treaded achingly snailish, they arrived to the staircase at the end of the hall, beginning their torturous climb up. "That dude, Chan. I've never even talked to him the whole semester. Yet he suddenly approached us out of the blue?"

Minho held onto the railing with his hand, taking it one step at a time as fast as the crowd was going in front and pushing behind them. "And that's your issue?" he tried clarifying. "I don't know him either, but what's the problem with looking for a partner in the project?"

"No, I meant," Hyunjin shook his head, bumping shoulder to shoulder with his friend as they headed upwards, "the way it happened, you know, was so weird."

All Minho could do was let out a small laugh. "What does that mean? You're pretty weird yourself."

They arrived to the staircase's platform halfway point before continuing along the railing. "Me and you were just messing around, and then he does... that?" 

"What is _that?"_

"I don't know? Excessive force? The way he grabbed my wrist earlier," Hyunjin looked at his hand to show Minho, although there was nothing out of the ordinary there. 

"You seem fine?" Minho assured. "But if you say it happened, then I believe you."

"Do you?" It seemed too good to be true. The more Hyunjin thought about it, his wrist had stopped hurting some time ago. Not that he could pinpoint an exact moment through his jumbled thoughts. There was something about Chan that just scared the living soul out of him. 

"Sure, why not?" Minho coolly remarked. 

If Hyunjin had never done the most intense eye roll, he was sure this was it. The way Minho played it off just made it seem like there was no point in convincing him at all, and it was so damn irritating to Hyunjin. "You're terrible."

The two made it up to the fourth floor, entering the long corridor. "Say that again while coach yells at us because you couldn't stop talking."

"We aren't late, and even if we were the blame wouldn't lie with me," he defended. "It was Chan's fault."

The fourth floor had significantly less people as it was entirely dedicated to the after school clubs and extracurricular activities, and most other students had already exited down through the other three staircases at each corner of the building. 

They quickened their pace, taking advantage of the breathing room. Hyunjin wasn't going to let this problem go away soon. "So you don't believe me? At all?"

"If I said I believe you, then I do."

"But why are you believing so easily? It sounds fake! What basis would you even have for taking my side? You're believing me with nothing to go on!"

"So then, you don't want me to believe you?"

"Exactly! Normally a side character doesn't see danger up ahead and it takes a lot of convincing from friends. Even then, it's no use! Eventually, the side character does end up believing his friends at the last minute, but the damage is done and it's already too late. It's called plot development or something. But the way you go about it, you just jump straight to the believing part blindly. It feels weird and throws everything off. There's a reasonable and logical step by step system you're missing here!"

"Hold on a second. I'm a side character?" Minho snorted. "I don't recall auditioning for the role. Or any role for that matter."

"Everything will be okay, though! Because you have me to protect you."

Minho rolled his eyes, deeply sighing at the remark. "I don't think I need protecting." 

"Just believe me."

"But I do?"

"Well I don't believe that you believe me."

"Hyunjin, I can't win with you today."

"No but seriously, I'm not joking. Think of it through my perspective. Don't you find it weird that as soon as the bell rung, the next thing we know Chan is right next to us? All the way from the other side of the room? There must be like five desks in between us and Chan. I didn't even know he was there— Did you? Did you see him walk up to us that quickly?"

"Not exactly, I was sort of preoccupied with you being... you."

"And he claimed he called out my name? But I didn't hear anything?"

"Well it _was_ kind of loud in there with everyone rushing out the door." Minho paused for a moment. "I'm more curious how he manages to keep up with the class with all that constant sleeping of his day in and day out."

"Right? He seems like the always-causing-trouble type. And that's why we should stay away from him."

"Does that mean I should stay away from you as well?" he asked innocently while arriving and turning the knob to the dance practice room. 

"Not funny. Didn't laugh."

As the door opened, a few familiar faces greeted them. And a really familiar face sitting on the smooth, wooden floor in the corner looked up from his phone, grinning from ear to ear. "Hey guys, what's up?" The voice was deep and recognizable. Hardly anyone would mistake it for anyone else's. The boy quickly got up, almost leaping forward like a little kid at heart and hugging Minho tight by the waist.

The door shut behind them. "Hey Felix, coach isn't here yet?" Minho couldn't help but wonder.

"No no, not yet, you're lucky today!" Felix laughed, "Think he forgot the lesson plans for today's choreography in his car, but it's been raining pretty hard all day so I imagine it'll be a bit more long until he gets here."

"Should probably warmup then," Hyunjin suggested. Although by the sulky tone of his voice, he clearly had something on his mind. He walked over to where Felix was previously sitting, tossing his backpack down against the wooden wall. 

Felix kind of gave Minho a confused look, whispering, "What's with him?"

"It's nothing, he thinks some guy we just met is out to get him or something probably." Minho hummed. "Honestly I would be out to get Hyunjin too, because he's just so loud. Please, learn how to whisper."

Hyunjin yelled from across the room, "I can hear you!"

A couple of their dancer friends stretching on the other side giggled, not exactly giving it much thought knowing fully well of their friendship dynamic already. The large mirror displayed entirely from one end of the wall to another could easily capture the back and forth bickering, even if one weren't facing them directly. 

"You were meant to hear it," Minho gave a wink to boot. Just to rub it in.

Felix pulled on his arm. "Shall we warmup then?" 

"Sure," Minho threw his bag over to where Hyunjin was.


	2. Witnessing the Tragic Fall of Lee Felix

Gliding on flat wooden surface, matching arrangements of synchronized footwork would always be satisfying to him. Through the dance practice room's mirror, sweat droplets had been visibly slipping down faces of the dancers for a while, some cheeks noticeably flushed. 

"Make sure you count the sequences of steps in your head precisely, it's the only way to keep track of the beat and tempo. One more time!"

The team got ready again, no more than fifteen members or so, determined to finish off the day with another piece of choreography learned. It was the second half of a special someone's choreography, so that made it all the more worthwhile. They only had about an hour to learn this particular part and another hour to coincide everyone's movements together in unison. Repeating it over and over until it was ingrained into muscle memory and impossible to mess up. Without a doubt, it can be frustrating and tiring. Just one mistake from a single person forces a restart, and giving it an all-out effort every time is a true test of endurance. Almost all the students are only average dancers, including himself. Others are at a beginner's pace, objectively speaking, but they kept up well with the rest through extra practice. Minho's starting position for this section had him with legs spread apart and standing tall, hands at his sides. Felix and Hyunjin were in similar positions on other sides of the room separate from him.

The coach began to walk them through it with another dance count set, shouting, "One, two, three, four—"

Just as the instructor started, the dance club moved as one. Picking up his left leg in a light stomp, Minho rose his elbow at eye level to nearly meet with his hand, forming a brief circle with them before rebounding his arms back down below his torso. During the rebound, in simultaneous movements, he had turned his legs slightly inward towards his body through internal rotations before following them up with external rotations pointing outwards. Soon after, buckling his lower limbs down, wide apart.

"—five, six—"

Emphasizing a small kick up with his left foot that momentarily parted from the floor, there was a transitory body lean-in to that same direction. On the sixth count, a small kick right which ended up joining his heel to the ground, leaning towards the rightward direction this time.

"—seven—"

The seventh count required a reversal of body direction, which was tricky in that it made anyone prone to losing their balance. With a single palm open upwards and raised into the air, a shift in body weight placed it all on the right foot flat down. Lastly, the ending pose consisted of a raised left foot, heel off the floor and tiptoe connecting on ground. 

"—eight. Very good."

Everyone collapsed to the floor, breathless and panting. In the reflection of the mirror, Minho could see Felix with his hands barely holding him up and Hyunjin completely laying down trying to catch his breath. They had come a long way, none of them really knowing the basics or how to not trip over themselves. It wasn't until a little bit before their first year commenced that it really sparked interest for all three of them after learning about the possible college paths and scholarship opportunities. Dancing was for fun up until that point, where it grew into something more of a passion. Something more serious and obtainable. Now they were in their last year of high school, and winning a tournament at their tier seemed more and more likely.

"No but really," Felix rummaged through his pocket to find some money, then he inserted it into the vending machine to buy. "I'm glad your choreography was picked this month, it's so good." After scouting out the selection of beverages like he was going to pick something new for once, he pressed three buttons on the keypad to get the same thing he always does each day. The machine made a robotic yet low buzzing noise, pushing out his desired choice from the slot. It was consistently B12. All the time. The bottled water plopped out, hitting the back of the compartment with a thud where he would retrieve it. "You still need a name for it, right? It doesn't have one yet?"

"Not right now, but I'll think of something." Having been a while since the school year started, this was the first chance the dance coach actually asked for members to choreograph something on their own if they had the time. Minho was just relieved to turn something in after countless nights.

Felix had already leaned against one of the fourth floor's hallway windows, chugging down a decent amount of his drink before wiping some of the water dripping down his mouth. "If you need help you can always ask around. But I'm pretty bad at naming stuff, like I named my dog Puffleboss when I was small. So maybe count me out for that." 

Through the same window Minho noticed the rain had ceased outside, but there were dark clouds still lingering. "I don't know who I would even ask." 

"Hyunjin exists."

"Who?"

A playful sigh exhaled out. "That one guy. Our dearest friend. Our buddy for a few years now. The dude that is kind of funny but also makes you want to bang your head against a desk at times. Tall and handsome. We literally said goodbye to him two minutes ago?"

"Oh, that person," Minho side-eyed. "You mean the guy that ditched us early so he could go catch up on his romance drama show?"

"Nevermind," Felix tried not to laugh. He was about to take another sip, before stopping. "Why not ask your friend you teamed up with for one of your classes? Forgot his name."

"What friend?" Then suddenly his face seemed to remember. "Oh, you mean Jeongin? We aren't that close. I wouldn't really say he's a friend."

"Not a friend?"

"More of an acquaintance. I don't even think he knows I dance."

"You could still try talking to him," he pointed out.

There was a noticeable wince on Minho's face. "I don't know the first thing about him. Other than he's a teacher's assistant."

Felix almost hit his head against the glass. "Jeongin's a what!?" Lowering the bottle, and much to Minho's uneasiness, it appeared that Felix liked to talk with his hands for every syllable. The water swished and swashed around, almost spilling. "That's so cool, do you know how much I wanted to try being an assistant for Ms. Park's art class?" It definitely almost spilled a couple times there.

"I thought it wasn't allowed since she didn't need much help?"

"It's true, she doesn't. I was so disappointed. I wanted to have a free class period to do almost nothing. But even then, I was told I still need class credit for some other mandatory subjects. So I couldn't be one even if I wanted to." Felix pouted, disheartened like he was being told the news all over again. "Life is unfair."

"You know," Minho smirked, "the whole point of being an aide is that you at least help."

"Try telling that to Changbin," he rolled his eyes. "He does literally nothing, or so I hear. He's an aide for Mr. Jong in computer science."

Minho only shrugged, the mere thought of computer science already boring him. "Makes sense. All the programming is on the computer."

"That's so lucky," Felix groaned, downing the rest of the water and tossing the empty plastic into the recycling bin. "Anyway, walk me home?"

"Yeah, I just need to stop by the store again—" As he was talking, he caught something in the corner of his eye. It was coming from outside. Straight ahead, a trio of students dressed in all black clothes were walking together as they passed the front gate of the school and crossed the street. It would have been a sinister image to process with the weather and all if one of them didn't nearly trip on a puddle of rain like some dork in that exact moment.

Felix turned around to see what his friend was looking at, peering through to get a good view. "Oh, you know Changbin?"

"Can't say I do," Minho answered honestly. "But I vaguely remember his name popping up in class once or twice before. Which one is he?"

More than happy to tell them apart, Felix jabbed a finger at the window as if Minho could actually decipher who he was pointing at from here. The three students in the distance had their backs turned to them, nearly out of sight as they turned a corner into one of the residential neighborhoods. "The one on the farthest right was Changbin. You're probably taller than him."

"Considering you know his height, I'll take a wild guess that you know him yourself?"

Felix pulled away from the window. "No, but I do see him in the halls. He's bad news. I try to steer away from him at all times. There's a whole bunch of stories surrounding him. Almost everyone might as well know those three. The one on the left was Jisung, by the way. You're probably also taller than him. And the one in the middle was..."

Minho's eyes widened when Felix told him the name.

"Clean up on aisle sixteen," the loud and monotone voice on the store's speaker echoed. Someone out there really hated their job. 

Felix and Minho were in the cat food section. Felix was on the floor, rubbing his head in slight pain. Minho had his hands full with some other items, only to stare down at the ripped bag of expensive Meow Mix food scattered all over the floor. There was a perfectly logical explanation for all of this. It was Felix's fault. All of it. "Are you okay?"

"Never better, and you?" Felix asked enthusiastically, albeit somewhat fake. 

"I don't think that's how this conversation works—"

A male employee in a red vest uniform and khaki pants waltzed in with a broom and yellow contraption, opening it up so that it read as a wet floor caution sign. No liquid was in sight, but close enough. "Now what happened here?"

It was Felix that spoke first. "Funny story. So you see," he attempted to explain while still on the floor, "we don't know anything about cats. I was asked to come here, again, not knowing anything myself. Being brought here after dance practice, maybe we were a little tired and not thinking clearly. I don't know. We both split up and searched for clues anyway, but unfortunately one thing led to another and we couldn't agree on what to purchase. Next thing I know I'm in aisle sixteen looking at all the possible options. There is one called Meow Mix filled with all sorts of flavors and it looks like something a cat would really enjoy. But the problem was it was all the way up there," he gestured high on the shelf, "and I really wanted it. So naturally, I really went for it by climbing the shelf. When I reached the top I may have possibly miscalculated my step. And here I am," he finger gunned with both hands and threw a sly grin, completely unashamed.

Minho nodded his head to confirm Felix's story. "He fell."

"You could have just said that earlier," the employee rolled their eyes obnoxiously. "I didn't ask for your life story. I don't get paid enough for this." Without another question, the employee began to sweep the mess of cat food, some in shapes of spheres and triangles and squares. 

Minho just continued to stare at both of them, having the urge to get what he wants to say out of his chest. "We can... pay for the mess." 

"Well I would hope so," the worker snapped. As he continued to sweep more to accumulate the tainted food, there was a bit of a roadblock. "By the way, you can move off the floor now."

"Uh," Felix hesitated, "It's pretty comfortable down here."

"It's either that or you roll away," the employee gave him an ultimatum.

"Roll me away," Felix smiled. 

And the worker did sweep him along with the food, with Felix rotating at every brush and out from the aisle. "Fair enough."

Minho blinked, unable to erase what he just saw. That definitely wasn't sanitary. In the end, he thought it best to put some of the cat toys he was holding back down and just strictly go for the food. In no way did he have a lot of money. As he took his sweet time to trudge to the cashier up front, he explained to her the situation with the ripped bag and he ended up paying for two bags — the ripped one and the current one. "Sorry, again." By the time they basically kicked him out, his friend was already waiting for him outside, brooding on the edge of the sidewalk.

"Took you long enough," Felix huffed. "I asked in your place if they knew anything about cats. All I got in return was: 'Do I look like I'm a cat person?' Can you believe that?"

"Yeah, shocker," he deadpanned.

"Are you angry?"

"No."

"You look angry," Felix narrowed his eyes at him.

"Honestly it's cool, you owe me money though."

Felix wrapped an arm around Minho as they started walking to their homes. "Listen—"

"No."

"So you hate me."

"No."

"So you love me."

Minho was trying not to crack a smile, but it was too late. He just pushed Felix off him instead. "No."

"How can I make it up to you?" The walk home was a relatively short one. At least, it was for Felix. He lived close by in one of the residential neighborhoods just a few blocks away from the school. Minho, on the other hand, lived a street or two away from downtown. 

The answer to that was quick. "Buy me food when I feel like it."

"Deal."

Minho did a little fist pump. "I'll order the most expensive thing on the menu next time we eat somewhere."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he joked. "And about back there," Felix looked both ways before crossing the street with Minho, "I hope you know I was trying to help. I know how much it means to you."

"I know."

"You know?"

"I know your heart was in the right place," he elaborated. "At the wrong time. Specifically on a shelf. Thank you, I guess."

"You're quite the comedian."

Patting himself on the shoulder, Minho indulged in the moment and was very proud. "I try." The next five minutes mostly consisted of a comfortable silence between the two, every now and then lightly pushing each other to the sides. It was fun. He really enjoyed spending time with Felix. It was a shame, though. Because little did he know that friendships can change at the drop of a hat. 

When Felix arrived at his intersection, they waved each other off. "See you tomorrow."

"See you later."

After waiting for the pedestrian sign to give him the signal, he started to increase his pace for what would be another fifteen minutes or so, eventually even passing by his own house. Before taking a nap, he needed to check something off his to-do list. 

In comparison, the sidewalk had been starting to get more cracked. The houses had also been getting smaller and more worn out. And the crossroads lacked in pedestrian signs, which is already a noticeable difference in this neighborhood to the others he walked by. Downtown is generally deemed as an unsafe place, mostly for newcomers. If you lived in town long enough, you would know it was not all that bad. Sure, it was a little more sketchy. And sure, there was obviously less streetlights to illuminate the dark alleys. But that shouldn't define a whole area and the people that lived there. 

Construction in this place had mostly halted. Tons of buildings around these parts were usually being sold or long abandoned. Broken windows and rubble spewed everywhere from diminishing walls, and untrimmed moss creeped from hidden crevices to overtake most edges. Up ahead at the next street, a small plaza looked completely closed this late at night, and down that same road was a rundown hotel gated off with metal fencing. He could count numerous establishments that were built up from the ground, some being at least ten floors high. Mini skyscrapers, of sorts. 

Nearby, a shallow warehouse sat by itself, taking up a whole road of its own. It was about the size of a building with five floors but incredibly long in length, made entirely from concrete on the outside. On its perimeter, it was enclosed off by a large entrance gate and a similar matching concrete wall with creative graffiti that towered over Minho just a bit. A single lightpost barely stood up at the corner of the warehouse's outer sidewalk. And just like all the previous times, there was a cardboard box laying there on its side, a part of it opened up showing a warm and small blanket. 

Minho had arrived at the destination. 

He walked up to the box, straining his eyes a bit from the lightpost's sheer intensity. The surrounding areas were beginning to get completely dark. Not that he cared. Minho called out an affectionate yet temporary nickname, Kitty-Kat, while bending down to the box's level. Smiling, he extended a hand out in front of the dark box. Coming out from the shadows within it, a small cat with dark brown fur and black stripes stepped out one paw at a time. Its green-gold eyes looked up at him in familiarity. But rather than walking up to him, the cat stopped approximately three steps away to simply sit and stare back at him. 

"You're so cute," he cooed. "I brought food." Grabbing the medium-sized Meow Mix from his backpack, he opened it carefully to not let any explode out. "Where's your bowl?"

Kitty-Kat opened its mouth, silenting meowing and tilting its head in confusion. He could almost feel her judging him for asking a silly question.

"Right, right. Where it's always been." From within the cardboard box, he took out the cat's scratched bowl. He probably needed to buy a new one soon. Still, he poured some of the cat food in there, watching her gently eat in peace from his crouched position. 

The animal was so adorable to him, as he had watched it grow over the past couple months when he first found it alone and astray from its mom. If it were possible, he could watch it eat its food all night.

However, there was something bothering him in that moment. It was as if the air around him felt off. It felt more... still. As he focused his attention back to the cat, he noticed a subtle change in its behavior. The stray had stopped eating. Was it not hungry anymore? Minho steadily tried to reach a hand out towards it, but the cat quickly dashed back inside the cardboard box without so much as a goodbye to him like usual. 

"Kitty-Kat?" Why was she acting so shy to him now? It was bizarre.

But if he could somehow change perspectives with the cat in front of him, he would have seen a shadowy figure directly behind his back. 

A shadowy figure with yellow eyes and sharp fangs ready to sink into his neck.


	3. Infiltrating the Enemy Territory, by Lee Minho

"So how did it go?" Felix stuffed a couple of fries into his cheeks, giving them a rounder appearance.

"With Kitty?" Truth be told, Minho didn't know how to answer that. He could have sworn someone was watching him at the time, but there was no one there under the flickering lightpost. "Could have been worse. Could have been better."

Felix, with his puffy cheeks and all, continued chewing observantly. "You seem upset, don't try and hide it." Knowing Minho for some time, it's rather easy to pick up on these little details. The slight shift in behavior. Such as his expression full of many thoughts and worry. Zoning out repeatedly for the past minute or two. There was also the fact he asked Minho this two times already, realizing the other wasn't paying attention while continuously poking aimlessly at his meal consisting of a single slice of pizza, some fruit, yogurt, and other side dishes. Minho was an open book when it came to matters he cared about. When it came to other things, maybe it was a little more difficult to read into. Obviously, that goes for anyone. This just happened to be something he was sure of. "So what exactly happened with Kitty-Kat?"

He didn't answer at first. Then, after some silence, Minho gave in, sighing deeply. "It didn't work."

"Again? You're sure?"

"Positive." 

"Then, Mix Meow-Meows is out of the question? I thought it would work this time."

"Meow Mix." The cat food was called Meow Mix.

"Yeah yeah, that." 

"I don't know," Minho rubbed his hands down along his face. "She seemed to like it at first. It was the weirdest thing, one second she's enjoying it and then the next she doesn't want to come out of her box as if she hates it. The bowl was about half empty, so maybe she doesn't like the aftertaste? I felt so bad for leaving her there, but you know my aunt doesn't allow pets. And she gets suspicious if there's even the slightest bulkiness coming out of my backpack from all the cat food I've been hoarding over the weeks." Minho twirled the plastic fork in hand while contemplating, letting the cafeteria noise of other students seep in. "I can't take care of the cat forever."

Felix frowned empathetically. "Wish I could help you there, otherwise I would have taken her in with no hesitation."

"I know, but still." In the corner of Minho's eye, he could spot a taller individual approaching their table booth. "Look who's finally here." 

"Thank you for the commentary," Hyunjin sassed. "What did I miss?" he asked as he slid into Felix's side of the booth's table, letting his tray fall onto the surface. Some of the food splattered outwards, but not too much. "I got the sloppy mystery meat today by accident."

The others grimaced, yet they were amused. Minho automatically wiped some of the mess with his napkin, following it up with a question. "Where were you? You missed the first ten minutes of lunch."

"Under the stairs. Also hiding in the restroom stalls. Believe it or not, but I binged most of my show last night. I was trying to watch the rest on my phone."

"In the bathroom?" Felix dipped a fry into ketchup before taking another bite. "You locked yourself up in a stall? Why there?"

"The wifi is great. You have to raise your phone in just the perfect corner, otherwise it lags. And if I have to pretend to listen to another lecture I'll kick and scream. I swear I'll do it." Hyunjin slid his food away because he definitely was not eating that. At one point in the semester he swore someone went pale from merely looking at it. "But anyway, let's talk something more important. Like my show!" He flashed a giddy grin, mostly hoping they would indulge him.

Minho leaned back, letting his head rest on the booth's cushion. "Is it that same show you wanted me to watch last week?"

Hyunjin shook his head eagerly, denying it. "No, not that one! But I think you would love this one I'm watching. Without spoiling, it's about a random guy who doesn't know what he's getting into and is oblivious to his surroundings, kind of like an old friend of mine. You guys don't know him."

Rolling his eyes, Minho crossed his arms. "Oh, this should be good," he sarcastically mumbled. 

"Anyway," Hyunjin glared, "before I was rudely interrupted." 

"What happens?" Felix asked. 

"The situations he's put into are hard to get out of because this stranger he meets isn't who he appears to be. For some reason he ends up trusting that stranger, which makes zero sense _in my opinion_ ," Hyunjin emphasized that last part.

Felix inched closer at this interesting story, clearly intrigued. "I see, I see," he said while stroking his chin. 

"Here's where everything gets worse! The problem initially starts off small and seemingly irrelevant, like asking the stranger for help in buying something. Seems simple enough, right? I mean he trusts this guy after all. And then when the time comes to pay that money, the main character is taken aback because it's a big price to pay. The strangers says _Oh okay, you know what, instead of paying money you could do this errand and this task in exchange for my assistance earlier._ However! The main character can't do one of the objectives for whatever reason, which means he still isn't in the clear, leading to several more strings attached. By getting all that solved, he needs to go to other strangers for help since he doesn't know anything, but the funny part is those strangers also trick him. Eventually all those errands and tasks pile up and they become increasingly more difficult, with no end in sight, accumulating into an avalanche of a mess." Looking at the other two's trays, his stomach growled. "Are you gonna eat that Minho?"

Without looking at his uneaten food, he closed his eyes. "Go for it."

Hyunjin quickly switched the trays, starting off by taking a bite out of the red apple on the side. He hummed in satisfaction, savoring the juicy flavor. "Did you know apples have a lot of symbolism, like representing someone's fall to the dark side? It was almost like the main character bit off more than he could chew." 

"Poor guy," Minho played along.

"But yeah, basically the plot revolves around all of this. Although, the point of no turning back was when the main character starts talking to the first stranger if you ask me. It's entertaining, I'll admit. I'm at the part where the final ultimatum breaks or saves the story. Just need one more episode."

"That escalated quickly," Felix laughed. "Does this character not have friends?"

"He does have friends."

"So why doesn't he just ask for help from someone he knows? It seems all complicated for no reason," Felix thoughtfully concluded.

"Because!" Hyunjin took another bite of the apple. "That's his flaw. Being stubborn."

"I guess that's one way to look at it," Felix bounced back the conversation. "Then again, sometimes things happen for a reason, right?"

Hyunjin's jaw dropped, letting a piece fall out onto the plate. "You shouldn't underestimate the gravity of the situation! Never! Don't do it! It results in crime. Is that what you want, Lix? A life of crime!?"

Felix pouted, trying to come up with an answer. "No, not really."

"Exactly, Lix. Exactly!"

"You want to know what I think?" Minho talked for once through the whole story.

"Yes, of course!" Hyunjin leaned in across the table, eyes widening expectedly. "What is it?"

"I think," he paused, "I really need to find a book on taking care of cats. Maybe that's what I need to do. All the mixed signals from Kitty have been confusing me. I've been going about this all wrong the whole time. I don't know how to take care of a cat."

"Oh," Hyunjin's tone lowered in excitement. "Is that what you all were talking about again before I arrived?"

"That's a great idea, Minho," Felix assured. "I think the library assistant can help you with that. They have a database that stores all the titles into the computer and it tells you where the book is located."

He hummed. "Do they now?"

"Yeah, technology has come a long way. If I told some of my relatives about it they would probably go on a tangent that starts off with _Back in my day, we had to individually search each shelf plus actually use typewriters_ and then I would be forced to listen to them rant for twenty minutes over something I didn't ask in the first place."

"So are we just going to ignore everything I said about my show?" Hyunjin stared in disbelief.

"Thank you, Lixie. I'll head over to the library," Minho smiled warmly, picking up the tray in front of him and slinging his bag over his shoulder to get ready to leave. "They should be open, right?"

After dropping off the tray at a nearby station area, he honestly was just glad to get out of there. Minho had told Hyunjin over and over the other day that he believed him about Chan, so he wasn't sure why he kept pushing the narrative so much. It was almost kind of weird at this point. Still, he would much rather solve the issue of Kitty-Kat, the beloved ball of fluff. It needed a home, and he couldn't just let it stay there forever fully knowing he hasn't tried everything in his capacity to do something about it.

Once he strolled through some hallways and turned a corner, he arrived in front of the library. The big doors hitched loudly as he entered, finding it filled with multiple tables where some students sat to do assignments or readings. Many shelves propped up, showing their wide collection.

"Welcome to the library," a monotone voice greeted without taking their eyes off the computer, typing away. "How may I help you?"

As Minho walked up to the front desk, he noticed the person sitting on the rolling chair wasn't the usual librarian at all. It was a student about his age. He had probably seen him around at least once or twice, not that he remembered. The student had a pair of glasses and light brown hair, wearing a dark green cardigan and black shirt underneath. He also noticed an identification tag wrapped around his neck as a necklace. It read _Seungmin_. _Kim Seungmin_. "Hello."

"Yes, how may I help you?" Seungmin didn't even glance at him, using the same level of indifference.

"I wanted to check out a book."

"Don't we all?"

Minho blinked. "What?"

Seungmin looked him in the eye as if he asked something ridiculous. "I said," he over-enunciated, "Don't we all?" Then he spoke normally again. "I thought I made myself clear there."

"No, I heard you the first time."

"Then?" His typing became a little louder. 

"It's just— I didn't expect? Nevermind," he sighed slightly. "I would just like assistance in finding a book. A guide of sorts."

"Yes, the library does have books. Feel free to search around."

Minho stood there awkwardly. After a long silence, he shifted his feet. "What do you mean? That's it?"

Seungmin stopped typing, then let out a long and annoyed groan as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "What is it now?"

"I was wondering if you could help me locate the book."

Seungmin released another loud and irritated groan. "You better not be here to waste my time. I've had a couple of you do that already today, making me find books for you then saying you don't need them anymore, running off like I don't have other tasks to do."

"Oh?" How was he supposed to respond to that, he would never know. "I just really wanted to find a book. I need it because I'm genuinely interested."

Almost immediately, Seungmin's eyes brightened and the perks of his mouth curved up. "Oh! Why didn't you just say so from the start?" 

This was like a totally different person now. "I did? I— Anyway," he continued, "I heard it's easy to find on the computer."

"It is," the student grinned. "Only takes a minute." Seungmin scrunched his nose cutely. "So, do you have the title of the selected book you want to check out?"

Now that Minho thought about it, that didn't really cross his mind. "Not exactly."

"When it was published? Word count? Number of chapters?"

"Nope."

Seungmin hummed cheerfully. "What about the topic of a book? Author? General concept, theme, idea? Genre?"

"Something to do with raising a cat, maybe?" He asked this rather shyly, kind of embarrassed. 

Seungmin rose a brow curiously but didn't ask. "Sure thing." He sounded excited. "One moment please," he said as he typed at impressive speed on the keyboard.

"Thank you."

"If you don't mind me asking," he spared a brief glance, "What do you need a book on cats for? I doubt there's any classes with a project or essay on such subject matter."

"There's a stray I want to help. Long story."

"A stray? That's very kind of you." It was a genuine compliment. As he continued typing, diving into the database, he steered the conversation. "You know, not many people can say they willingly stepped out of their way to help someone or something. It's admirable."

Minho nodded, not really used to the general praise. "By the way, there's something I want to ask."

Seungmin hummed, letting him know he was listening. "Ask away."

"I didn't know students could volunteer for the library?"

"Oh, that?" He held back a laugh. "I'm the library assistant. If you have enough class credits they allow it. I substituted a course in exchange to help out here, which gives good experience as well. So I figured I might as well."

"And what about lunch?" Minho asked. "Do you have that, too?"

"I have it a different time so that I can fill in for the normal lunch hour," Seungmin happily replied. "It works out well."

"That's kind of cool."

"Right?" Almost immediately afterward, Seungmin was finished searching for the location. "I found three books that could be of your interest. One is in Section J. Another in Section R. The last is in Section N. Would you like me to write down the ISBN for you?"

"The what?" 

"The International Standard Book Number. Makes it easier to find."

Minho nodded slowly. "Yes, please."

After writing down the numbers for him on a note card, Seungmin waved him off and went back to work. He seemed really nice, despite the rocky start. First impressions matter to a certain extent, but Minho was glad it wasn't correct in this case. When he dove into the empty aisle for Section J, he scanned the open area for any sign of a matching book number written down in neat handwriting for him. 

He squinted down, walking along each book one by one, hands passing over each one. "9-6013, no, not that one," he muttered to himself. "5-514, no." 

That was no use, or maybe he passed the one he needed to find. Instead, he decided to opt for Section R. However, suddenly taking another step, he could feel his body stop itself, planted firmly on the ground. There was a thickness in the air that overpowered him, making his heart beat rapidly. It was like a strange sense of deja vu, but he had the feeling he was being watched. 

He quickly turned around, noticing a retreating shadow walk behind a couple shelves that were in the way. It felt just like the other night. This time stronger.


	4. Manipulating the Bad Headache of Kim Seungmin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [awkwardly enters]  
> h-heyy... lmao ok so wow its been a hot minute since i last updated (may 1st) and its now september 13 (or 14 in korea, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JISUNG & happy birthdays to felix and seungmin from me in the future)

Fear. 

There's a genuine fear running through his legs. He could have sworn he was alone in this corner of the library. It's creepy; but not the kind of eerie underlying vibe he gets when walking downtown by himself, instead this was definitely amplified all at once. As the retreating shadow was almost out of his view, he felt the overwhelming sense of numbness gradually diminishing from his muscles. 

Minho wobbled forward, forcing himself to chase the parting shadow down. Once he turned the corner of the large wooden bookshelf, he was surprised to find himself alone in this next aisle. Just him, and no one else nearby. A quick turn around behind him, and still nothing. Perhaps his mind played a trick on him. That had to be it. Still, the adrenaline coursed through his veins a bit. The feeling in his legs came back fully this time, and he felt like he was in control of his body again. This had to be one of the most bizarre experiences he's gone through, and he only wonders if he imagined it. 

It was almost like the presence watching over him was never there to begin with it. And maybe he was wrong after all. Maybe there was nothing there.

He laughed quietly under his breath, feeling silly. 

Section J. 

Section R. 

Section N.

Normally past graduates donate their books that they don't need anymore, no matter how useless the topics, so the library gladly accepts the offers and shuffles them about in categorical order on the shelves. That's the only reason Minho knows there has to be guides on how to take care of cats. 

Those three sections were the areas that Seungmin gave, and after some minutes of walking in circles around the empty aisles by himself, Minho had already doubled checked — even triple checked — to see if he accidentally missed the correct books. 

Now he felt more ridiculous. 

Minho squinted at the note card in his hand that Seungmin wrote for him. None of the numbers had been on the shelves. He made sure of that, so he made his way over back to the front desk on the opposite side of the large library.

The library assistant was still there, typing away and taking a sip out of his water battle. 

Feeling a little more calm, Minho cleared his throat. "Hey Seungmin, about these numbers..."

He put the water down. "What seems to be the problem?"

"I'm having trouble finding any of the guides."

Seungmin hummed, furrowing his brows in confusion. "Are you sure?"

It's kind of rude to suggest that the fault lies with the guy that works here, and Minho was trying to find a polite way to word it, "Do you think it's possible that..."

The aide stared at him, not blinking in the slightest. 

Minho rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, not finishing his sentence. 

"You're implying I wrote the numbers wrong?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Maybe?"

Seungmin laughed. "Alright, let me have a look at it," he stuck his palm out and Minho gave him the card to review. 

Looking at the ISB numbers written down on it, Seungmin flipped it over to see if he wrote anything on the back. Which he hadn't. Then he flipped it again, and blinked at his own handwriting in uncertainty. Some typing on the keyboard ensued, with a bit of the computer screen's reflection appearing on Seungmin's glasses but not entirely. Then he rolled his finger over the scroll wheel of the computer mouse, clicking once on the left button. 

"That's strange."

Minho slightly leaned on the high wooden counter which happened to be Seungmin's work area. "What is?"

"It says someone checked it out already."

"Checked out?" he repeated more to himself than to Seungmin. "How is that possible? You just gave me the ISB numbers earlier, which means it had to be available when I first asked."

"Yeah, that's the even stranger part," Seungmin narrowed his eyes towards the screen. "This says it was checked out about two minutes ago."

He suddenly remembered the shadow — or person — that was watching him earlier by the shelves, and it's like he's switching into fight or flight mode again. Minho remembers being unable to move, being frozen in place, and it's noticeable by the way his heart beat starts to quicken out of fear. So he didn't imagine it. Maybe. Whatever it was that was there, it felt hostile.

Minho snaps out of his momentary daze. "May I ask who checked it out?"

Seungmin pursed his lips into a fine line, scrolling on his mouse back and forth. "The system doesn't exactly tell me a name. It only inputs the student's library card number, and then from there I'd have to purposely look into their student file. Which, technically, I'm not allowed to do." Then he blinked at Minho, with a small yet knowing smile. "You've never checked out a book before, have you?"

"Yes, I have. I've been to the library plenty of times. Even years ago." He never checked out a book though. That was a lie. "But either way, doesn't all that seem really inconvenient to just not know who exactly checked it out?"

He shrugged. "To be fair, I don't know your name either. But you know mine, since I swear it publicly."

"Fair point," nodding slowly, it felt like he was returning to normal. Normal, as in not being scared for the smallest things in a school library. It was just a shadow. Not that he could prove it. "I'm Minho."

"Nice to properly meet you, Minho. I assume you understand the situation now?"

It does seem like he would have to jump through multiple hoops just for Minho's request. "Okay then, so no name. You can't give me it at all. That's fine, I can work with that. What did the person look like?"

He leaned forward a bit on the wooden countertop, resting his chin on a propped up hand. "And what will you do with this information if I reveal it to you? Are you going to beat up the person that checked out your book?"

It sounded tempting, but, "No."

"Can't you just search up how to take care of a cat on your phone? I mean I'm not trying to pry, but the information is literally at your fingertips if you really wanted it," the aide smiles.

Minho gets flustered. "That's not the point."

Seungmin snorted. "Good enough for me." 

"Do you remember what the person looked like then? Hair type? Height?" he gestured with his hand. "Clothes? Anything?"

"Yes, I believe he..." Seungmin narrowed his eyes in deep thought, and Minho looks at him expectantly. There is a long pause before he says anything else. They can practically hear the air conditioner filling the room. "Actually, I don't remember now that I think about it."

This must be some kind of prank. "What do you mean you don't remember?"

The library aide visibly rubs his forehead as if he has a headache, slightly wincing. It doesn't seem like he is pretending. "I remember that he came up to the front desk and then?" he speaks out loud, trying to retrace his thoughts. After another momentary pause, Seungmin tilts his head doubtfully. "I'm drawing a blank. I can't seem to put a face to this person." He took off his glasses to relax his eyes. "It hurts just trying to think about it."

Minho looked at him strangely. "Are you playing a joke on me?"

Seungmin rubbed his eyes to focus more. "What joke?" 

There didn't seem to be a hint of lie anywhere. Minho leaned off the desk area, vaguely perplexed. "You're not lying, are you?"

"No," Seungmin returns his glasses back to their place on his nose bridge, then he looked up at Minho. "I genuinely don't know who checked it out."

"Does anyone remember what we went over yesterday?" the teacher squinted at the seated students.

It was the last class of the day again, but that also meant everyone was too worn out to actually give an answer. 

The teacher continued, pressing the chalk on the wall, "I think it was about the—"

Hyunjin shut off his ears. He loved and hated this class at the same time. 

Loved it, because he sits in the back and can get away with things. As well as bother Minho from time to time when he becomes bored. Hated it, because it was a snooze fest. And because the sight of Bang Chan sleeping on his desk again, way over on the other side, annoyed him. If Hyunjin tried sleeping he probably couldn't get away with it. No one really bothers with Bang Chan that much. 

When Hyunjin finally stopped glaring daggers at the guy and shifted his attention to his friend, he noticed Minho still staring out the window. He'd been looking outside the whole passed hour. The day wasn't gloomy like before, but instead the clouds lightly covered the sun's rays today. 

Partly cloudy. Somewhat breezy. 

In just a couple minutes, the bell will ring, and today's session will be over. Just like any other time. Then they'll go over to practice. 

Hyunjin reached out while the teacher wasn't looking, extending his arm and poking Minho on the shoulder, causing Minho to shift his head to his friend's direction. 

The teacher turned around unluckily, and Hyunjin had to think fast by pretending to yawn and stretch, adjusting himself back casually into his chair. After glancing at Hyunjin, the teacher must have known but doesn't say anything. It seems like he doesn't really care. Then their instructor glances over towards a knocked out Chan on the other side. 

And it doesn't seem like the teacher cares to call him out either today. So he goes back to writing on the board. 

After a while, there's only so much scolding one person can do.

Minho is raising an eyebrow, whispering so no one else can hear, "What do you want?"

Hyunjin is presently aware he does not have the ideal indoor voice. He's been told this, specifically by Minho the other day. Rather than speaking, he writes down a quick little sentence with his pencil, holding up the notebook afterward so Minho can see. 

_"ur always s t a r i n g out that window !! >:("_ is what the writing says, although kind of messy.

Keeping it to the same low volume, Minho mumbles back, "So?"

_"idk u seem preoccupied with something"_

"So?" he repeats.

_"sooooo im boredd , duh"_

"Not my problem."

Glaring at him, Hyunjin grips his pencil irritatedly, writing harder on the paper, _"then what was the point of us having this same class together omg"_

He smiles. "Did I ever tell you I have a huge crush on you, like I'm literally in love with you?"

_"stfu dont change the subject"_

"Or else what?"

He cracks his knuckles, apparently writing a strongly worded essay. _"i will LITERALLY pay people to make sure you get mystery meat for the rest of your lunches . i will purposely make you late to practice so you get punished consistently . i will sabotage your seats so that when you sit down you will fall on your butt . even your future devil spawn children will fear my wrath . everywhere you go, i will be RIGHT there . no matter where you turn. no matter where you hide . every time you so much as fucking BLINK you will cower into a corner because you will have no choice but to think of my face . there is no escape. no one you love will be safe . so if you dont tell me wtf is wrong RIGHT now"_

Minho dropped the smile, sighing, not seeming to be in the mood. In fact, he seemed to be growing tired of the conversation. "Some of us try to learn in class, you know."

Hyunjin actually scoffs at that. Not too loudly, but to a level that displays his disbelief at Minho's sudden attitude. _"if that isnt the funniest thing i have ever heard, are u really pulling that right now.. why are u lying ?? whats wrong ?"_

"I'm not lying?" Minho replies. "Pinpoint where you think I lied, and choose your words carefully when you do it," he dares.

The lie is in there. Hyunjin knows. _"u go everyday staring out that window, u never pay attention"_

"I pay attention," his voice loses its bite, not really putting up a fight and lost in thought. He also glances somewhere else when he says this. Very briefly. So briefly, that Hyunjin almost missed it.

It kind of pissed Hyunjin off, and he wonders if Minho is doing it on purpose. _"nope, u dont"_

"I do."

_"im not buying it, sir,"_ and Hyunjin sticks out his tongue childishly. 

Ironically Minho didn't even notice when Hyunjin did that because he's quite literally glancing to a specific part of the room again, only to look back at Hyunjin as if he didn't just ignore him. Like if he zoned out and then back in. It was almost as if Hyunjin was nonexistent to him. 

It takes a second, but Hyunjin turns around to see what's so distracting. Because he isn't going to let Minho get away with this. It felt like talking to a wall. So right now, Hyunjin's eyes are following the projected path that Minho's pupils darted to and— 

It turns out that it's a certain someone Minho was looking at. 

A certain Bang Chan.

How unbelievable. He'll make sure to bring that up before dance practice. But Hyunjin chooses to stay on topic for now. _"no u dont pay attention! u dont actually pick up on what the teacher says, its obvious that u only do the assignments as ur told,"_ Hyunjin retracts the notebook, jotting something else down. "u do the bare minimum," he adds.

"What is that supposed to mean exactly, Hyunjin?" Minho asked defensively, yet his tone indicates he doesn't have the energy to argue. It's almost like Minho knows deep down. 

_"idk u like to pretend that u try hard but in reality it feels like i pay more attention than u in class sometimes, ur worse than me ."_

Minho death glares.

_"u see that's exactly my point right there ! we both know u dont pay attention and we both know u probably half-assed the project with jeongin early on so that u can be lazy for the remainder of time until the deadline approaches"_

"Hey," Minho is offended, but it's fake, "for the record, he half-assed that project too. It's a mutual agreement."

_"exactly, so me and you are the same !!! we both like to fly under the radar"_

Minho smirks. "And Jeongin."

_"okay fine, jeongin too.. but idk the guy so"_

"You should meet him."

_"stop fucking changing the fucking subject what the fuck"_

"So aggressive."

_"whats bothering u nerd, u cant hide it from me"_

"Things."

_"what things ???"_

"Some things."

_"elaborate or perish"_

"Why are you so pushy today?"

_"because im fucking bored minho, thats why . and i deserve to speak to my best friend and bother him ! so stop shutting me out ."_

Minho groans inaudibly. "Fine."

_"so then tell me"_

"Maybe later."

Hyunjin rolls his eyes and slams his notebook closed. It makes a loud sound against his desk, startling every student in the otherwise quiet room. Even startling Bang Chan awake. Hyunjin honestly didn't mean for it to be that noticeable.

The teacher stops writing, "Is something the matter, Hwang? Has my lecture annoyed you so much you resort to flinging notebooks in frustration? I know I'm boring, I have self awareness. But you don't need to be rude about it."

Minho casually has an elbow on his own desk, covering his mouth with his hand to hide his suppressed snickering. 

"Sorry, it was a mistake," Hyunjin feels himself sinking in his seat. "Sorry," his voice gets tinier. 

His classmates are giving some confused looks, probably thinking how random he is, before eventually going back to their normalcy. 

Leaning in to Hyunjin's ear, Minho whispers, "You really want to know?"

Hyunjin raises a brow in disbelief. After a couple seconds, he finally nods. 

"It has to do with the stray cat."

He reopens the notebook, flipping to a new blank page and writes his reply down. _"the one ur taking care of?"_

"Yup."

_"what about it?"_

"I couldn't find the books on cats."

_"you were serious about that?"_

"I'm always serious."

_"stfu <3"_

"Honestly, I had a strange and scary experience at the library. I can't really describe it," and Minho actually makes an effort not to glance anywhere, but to instead hold eye contact with Hyunjin. He was serious.

_"oh ?"_

"Yeah, and Seungmin was also there."

_"oh ??" Hyunjin scratches his head, "wait what ? who's seungmin ?"_

"Library aide."

_"you mean what felix was telling us about at lunch ?"_

"Yup, that's the one."

_"uh i dont understand, couldnt u have just looked up how to take care of a cat on your phone instead of leaving the lunch table ?"_

"That's not the point," Minho facepalms. He can't believe he got asked this twice today. "I just needed an excuse so that you would stop being annoying. It was about the principle."

_"very funny, ha ha ha"_ The message almost sounds robotic by just reading it. Hyunjin opens his mouth appearing to want to say something but instead he shuts it, choosing to move his writing utensil on the surface of his notebook, _"wait im confused, what does this have to do with u always staring out the window ?"_

"Absolutely nothing."

Hyunjin grits his teeth, because it feels like he got nowhere with this whole thing. _"are you going to actually tell me then ?"_

"Nope," Minho smiles, "find out next time on a new episode of Minho's life story."

He had enough. Hyunjin almost wants to strangle him. And actually, his hand kind of hurts from all the conversation. So he jots one last thing down and holds up the notebook for Minho to see the message. _"k"_

"Did you just _k_ me?"

_"k...."_

Minho and Hyunjin barged into the dance practice room, greeting their other dancer friends that were already there before making their way to the back wall and going back into argument mode. 

"You know what, fuck your labels too."

"Woah, woah," Hyunjin laughs, "what's this all of a sudden?"

"You called me lazy earlier in class. That was a blatant attempt in character assassination. I demand an apology."

"You're right. I'm sorry you're lazy."

Minho's eye twitches at that response, and he tosses his bag over to the wooden wall corner. "All I'm saying is, it would be nice if you don't put me in a box like that again. There are different layers to everyone." 

Hyunjin hums in amusement. "How so?"

"Well, I like school. Sometimes," Minho thinks out loud. "As such, I have different levels of laziness. I'm not always lazy, I can also work hard when I want to."

"Is this just your roundabout way of justifying your laziness?" Hyunjin points out. "You know, at least I'm honest about my laziness."

"What about you? Is this just your roundabout way of being petty because we originally wanted to register that class together to goof off and not be bored?"

Hyunjin scowls. 

"Looks like I hit the nail on the head," Minho smirks. 

"No, not really."

"You're a bad liar," Minho points out. "At least I'm better at it."

"Who's the character assassin now?"

Minho puts a hand on his shoulder, with his obvious joking giggles, "Look, I understand that I ignored you. It doesn't mean you have to be clingy—"

Hyunjin's eyes go wide, and he pulls himself off Minho, "I'm not clingy."

"That's what I thought," Minho laughs hard. "You don't like labels either. No one does."

"I'm not clingy," Hyunjin tries to defend once again. "Felix is clingy. He always wants hugs."

"To be fair, that's just a normal human need."

"Speaking of Felix..." Hyunjin looks around the room. "Where is he?"

He shrugs, "No clue, he's usually here before us." Minho gets his phone out of his bag and walks over to somewhere in the middle of the dance practice room, sitting directly in front of the large mirror so he can see himself clearly. 

Their other dance friends are stretching. Meanwhile, Hyunjin sits besides Minho. "You going to text him?"

"Here," Minho hands him his phone, "you do it."

Hyunjin opens Minho's phone. And yes, he knows the password. 

**Minho**  
hey lix, its hyunjin~

where are u

coach is going to get angry at uuuuu

get here soon

He locks the phone and sets it aside on the ground. At the same time, Minho has long since stretched out his legs in front on the floor, reaching over an arm all the way to touch his toes and get that extra release of muscle tension. Then he alternates an arm over to his other foot. 

"Did he reply?"

"Nope."

"Where could he be..." Minho grunts as he lets go of his foot stretch.

"Not sure," Hyunjin starts to do his own stretching, mimicking Minho. "I'm getting too old for this."

"I hear you, and I agree. I really do." Minho stretches an arm over his head, and he hears a pop noise. "Ow."

"So..." Hyunjin winces while trying hard to maintain his stretch form. "About Bang Chan."

"What about Bang Chan?"

"I noticed you staring."

"Oh, that."

"Anything you want to tell me?"

"Well for starters, I wasn't staring. Staring would imply I had my eyeballs fixated on him for a prolonged period of time."

"Why do you say it like that..." Hyunjin shivers. 

"So that you can shut up and stop jumping to conclusions on your own."

"Point taken," Hyunjin shifts to an arm stretch like Minho, "But I'll counter that by saying that you should stay away from him."

"I don't know the guy. Never really spoke a word to him. You know that."

"Yeah," Hyunjin agrees, "but for future reference."

"I think you made your point at lunch."

"Did I? Because you were ignoring me there, too."

"You weren't exactly subtle about it," Minho emphasizes through the mirror by glancing at Hyunjin.

"Subtle is my middle name," Hyunjin gives a proud smile, also glancing through the mirror. On the outside, Hyunjin may seem collected. But he desperately wants to know. He can't help but ask the question. "So... if you weren't sneaking peeks at Chan because you like him, then why were you?"

"Let's just say..." Minho answers truthfully, "Chan has a secret."

"What kind of secret?"

"How should I explain..." he wonders. "It's just something that I picked up on. He doesn't actually sleep in class. It's fake."

Hyunjin furrows his brows through the mirror. "What do you mean?"

At that moment, the dance instructor walks into the room. Minho and Hyunjin immediately get up, as session is about to get started. All the dancing students have arrived by now. Except for one person. 

Felix never did show up for dance practice today.


End file.
